Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Here at last!

I am finally here! Safe and sound on the beach in South America. The flight brought us in at about 11:30pm and we took a taxi to the little town of San Clemente which took almost 4 hours to get to. They have fixed a lot of the pot holes since I last visited so the drive wasn't too bad. Every city has huge speed bumps which force you to slow way down. During the day when you are passing through towns people are out at the speed bumps trying to sell you everything, including food! I guess you could call this "fast food" cause that is the closest thing you will get down here to Mcdonald's.

My dad and I woke up kind of late considering we didn't go to sleep until really late and we ventured to the hotel restaurant to grab a bite to eat. Most everyone speaks spanish here, its not like Mexico where people speak broken english and know what you are talking about. Here its either Spanish or you sit there and smile looking like a tard. Towards the afternoon we walked on the beach and saw all the fisherman coming back from fishing and then made it down to Meyer's Bar/hangout. Meyer's is a guy from Germany who married an Ecuadorian woman. They have a few hostels on the beach and everyone likes to go hang out there in the afternoons most days and chat. We drank the only beer they have here called Brahama's- a basic pilsner style. Very light. I met another older German guy named Heinz, his wife died about 5 years ago and he has been coming with her to San Clemente for the past 40 years. I also met Peter and his wife who are Swiss and own one of the condos at Vistazul.

After buying a few groceries from Meyer's, we made our way back on the dirt road about .5 mile to the condo. Along the way we ran across a few farms with cows, chickens, and pigs. I have been relaxing ever since!

There is something about this place. Its very simple and relaxing. The people are friendly and you don't feel stupid trying to speak spanish here. Plus its special because it is such a small town, yet there are people from all over the world here, because they find the same happiness I do here.

La vida es bueno!